THE  ESTABLISHMENT  OF 
PUBLIC  PARKS 


CITY  OF  NEW  YORK 


GHERARDI  DAVIS. 


Read  before 

he  New  York  Historical  Society, 

April  6,  1897. 


i  a 


THE  ESTABLISHMENT  OF 
PUBLIC  PARKS 

IN  THE 

CITY  OF  NEW  YORK. 

BY 

GHER.ARDI  DAVIS. 


Read  before 

The  New  York  Historical  Society, 

April  6,  1897. 


'•■AUK 


.4  «H»i6<?r  0/  requests  for  copies  of  this  paper  having 
been  made  to  me,  I  have  had  it  reprinted.  Many  changes 
have  been  made  in  some  of  the  parks,  and  others  are 
contemplated.  If  I  might  suggest  one  thing  to  the  powers 
that  be,  it  would  be  that  parks  should  be  made  up  primarily 
of  trees,  grass  and  flowers,  and  not  of  concrete  walls  and 
asphalt  pavements. 

A  very  interesting  history  of  Central  Park  has  recently 
been  published  by  the  American  Scenic  and  Historic 
Preservation  Society. 

GHERARDI  DAVIS. 

New  York,  May.  1913. 


THE   EVENING   POST  JOB   PRINTING  OFFICE 
156   FULTON   STREET.   N.  Y. 


2639  O 


THE  ESTABLISHMENT  OF  PUBLIC 
PARKS  IN  THE  CITY  OF 
NEW  YORK. 


EW  subjects  have  attracted  more 
attention  in  matters  relating  to 
the  comfort  of  the  inhabitants 
of  large  cities  than  the  question 
of  Parks.  Those  stretches  of  green  grass 
and  trees  have  been  well  called  breathing 
spaces  for  the  people  of  a  city;  and  as  cities 
grow  and  become  more  and  more  densely- 
populated,  the  need  of  parks  is  more  and 
more  recognized.  The  health  of  cities  neces- 
sarily depends,  to  a  great  extent,  upon  these 
open  spaces,  where,  especially  in  summer, 
people  of  all  ages  congregate  in  masses,  to 
get  at  least  a  breath  of  open  air,  free  from 
the  heat  and  oppressing  confinement  of  tene- 
ments. Our  parks  have  not  been  always  as 
jealously  guarded  as  they  should  have  been 
in  the  past,  and  in  at  least  one  instance  in 
New  York  City  a  park  was  sacrificed  to  busi- 
ness needs.  The  memory  of  the  beauty  of 
this  park  is,  perhaps,  now  tinged  with  senti- 
ment, but  no  one  can  deny  that  such  sacri- 
fices are  not  only  unnecessary,  but  are  sen- 


4 


ously  to  the  disadvantage  of  the  city  and  its 
inhabitants. 

New  York  is  a  city  of  wonderful  natural 
advantages,  lying,  as  it  does,  between  two 
broad  rivers,  where  there  is  a  heavy  flow  of 
tide,  and  this,  probably  as  much  as  anything 
else,  has  made  it  healthy.  But  as  New  York 
becomes  more  and  more  built  up,  the  demand 
for  parks  increases,  and,  within  the  last  few 
years,  vast  tracks  of  land  have  been  bought 
by  the  city  for  the  purpose  of  laying  out  new 
parks. 

With  that  pride  which  every  one  naturally 
has  for  the  city  in  which  he  lives,  we  are 
inclined  to  think  that  our  New  York  parks 
are  the  most  beautiful  in  the  world.  We 
speak  of  Central  Park  as  a  wonderful  pro- 
duction of  landscape  gardening,  as,  indeed, 
it  is,  and  in  a  city  so  devoted  to  business 
as  is  New  York,  it  is  truly  remarkable  that 
so  much  space  has  been  given  up  to  mere 
trees  and  grass  and  water.  But  if  we 
stop  for  a  moment  to  consider  the  condi- 
tion of  things  in  this  city,  we  quickly  real- 
ize that  New  York  is  far  from  being  the 
equal  of  some  of  our  own  cities,  as  regards 
trees  and  grass,  and  that  many  European 
cities  are  far  better  supplied  with  parks  and 
avenues  bordered  with  trees  than  is  New 
York. 

From  the  Battery  to  59th  Street  the  area  of 
the  parks  and  squares  is  insignificant,  and 


5 


there  is  not  one  block  of  avenue  with  grass 
and  trees  like  the  Boulevard.  And  yet,  in 
the  very  heart  of  London  are  the  Gardens  of 
the  Inns  of  Court ;  near  by  are  those  of  the 
Temple,  from  which  the  tree-bordered  Em- 
bankment leads  along  the  Thames  to  within 
a  few  rods  of  a  series  of  parks,  so  that  one 
can  walk  for  miles  from  near  the  centre  of 
this  great  city  to  its  outskirts  within  parks 
and  parkways. 

Again,  in  Paris,  not  only  are  the  various 
Boulevards  lined  with  trees,  but,  from  the 
site  of  the  old  Tuileries,  in  the  very  heart  of 
Paris,  to  the  gates  of  the  city  to  the  west- 
ward, there  is  a  series  of  gardens,  avenues 
and  parks  several  miles  long,  which  are 
famous  the  world  over. 

And  even  Buffalo,  in  this  State,  has  been 
laid  out  with  an  eye  to  beauty  as  well  as  con- 
venience. Delaware  avenue,  the  pride  of 
every  inhabitant  of  Buffalo,  with  its  fine 
trees,  and  the  connecting  avenues,  squares 
and  parks,  lead  from  the  business  centre  of 
the  city  to  the  Niagara  River,  a  distance  of 
about  two  miles. 

Whatever  may  have  been  the  causes  which 
prevented  the  people  of  this  City  from  pre- 
serving more  open  spaces  south  of  59th 
Street,  the  fact  remains  that  in  this  part  of 
the  City,  New  York  is  far  behind  many 
American  cities,  as  well  as  Paris,  London  and 
Vienna,  and  the  citizens  of  New  York  must 


6 


admit  that  their  ancestors  did  not,  in  this 
respect,  look  to  the  future  convenience  and 
beauty  of  the  City  as  they  might  well  have 
done. 

And  yet  the  necessity  of  parks  presented 
itself  to  some  of  the  people  of  New  York  over 
a  hundred  years  ago,  for  in  1785,  August 
15th,  a  letter  was  published  in  the  New 
York  Packet,  addressed  to  the  Mayor  and 
Aldermen  of  this  City,  in  which  appeared 
the  following  : 

"It  is  a  very  general  complaint  that  there 
is  not  in  this  great  City,  nor  in  its  environs 
any  one  proper  spot  where  its  numerous 
inhabitants  can  enjoy,  with  convenience,  the 
exercise  that  is  necessary  for  health  and 
amusement." 

The  writer  (whose  name  is  unknown,  he 
signs  his  letter  "Veritas")  goes  on  to  speak 
of  the  fact  that  the  well-to-do  have  ample 
means  of  getting  fresh  air  by  driving  in 
summer  and  winter,  an  amusement  which 
the  greater  part  of  the  citizens  cannot,  of 
course,  indulge  in.  He  then  refers  to  the 
well-kept  parks  of  London  and  Paris,  and  the 
necessity  of  having  parks  in  all  cities,  and  he 
says,  referring  to  the  growth  of  New  York  : 

"The  size  and  consequence  that  this  town 
must  one  day  arrive  at,  ought  strongly  to  im- 
press the  necessity  of  attending  to  this  ob- 
ject, as  well  from  a  desire  to  contribute  to  the 
comfort  and  health  of  the  inhabitants,  as  from 
the  propriety  of  adding  to  the  public  orna- 


7 


ments  of  the  City.  In  this  view  the  Battery 
naturally  presents  itself  as  a  subject  capable  of 
vast  improvement.  Were  the  margin  of  this 
ground  laid  out  with  judgment,  planted  with  a 
row  of  trees,  and  furnished  with  seats,  from 
whence,  after  being  jaded  with  the  heats  of 
August,  we  could  enjoy  the  cool  breezes  of 
the  evening,  and  admire  the  beauties  of  one 
of  the  finest  harbors  in  the  world — what  an 
ornament  would  this  city  derive  from  it!" 

How  correct  this  writer's  judgment  was, 
all  who  have  ever  seen  the  Battery  well 
know. 

The  Battery,  however,  was  not  the  first 
open  space  in  the  City,  which  is  now  a  park 
or  square.  It  is  the  Bowling-  Green  which 
has  this  distinction. 

The  name  "  Bowling  Green  "  reminds  us 


from  the  City,  in  order  to  play  the  now  well- 
nigh  forgotten  game  of  bowls.  As  is  well 
known,  there  once  stood  on  the  land  south 
of  the  present  Bowling  Green  Park  a  fort 
which  dated  back  to  the  times  of  the  Dutch. 
It  was  built  in  1645,  and  there  Peter  Stuy- 
vesant  and  other  noted  men,  including  the 
Lieutenant-Governors  of  the  Colony,  resided. 
The  entrance  to  this  fort  was  on  the  side 
facing  north,  and  in  front  of  it  was  an  open 
space,  once  called  the  Parade  (1728),  kept 
open,  as  much  as  anything  else,  in  order  to 


Bowling 
Qreen. 


that  in  1732  certain  gentlemen, 
who  then  lived  in  lower  Broad- 
way, leased  this  plot  of  ground 


prevent  an  attacking  force  from  approaching 
too  near  the  fort  under  cover.  It  was  subse- 
quently put  to  various  uses  by  the  citizens 
of  the  then  diminutive  city.  In  1649  it  was 
a  cattle  market  ;  in  1676  a  market  fair  was 
ordered  to  be  held  there,  and  later  on  it  was 
used  as  a  place  of  recreation.  Its  turf  was 
apparently  well  cared  for,  as  may  be  judged 
not  only  from  the  use  it  was  put  to  as  a 
bowling  green,  but  also  from  the  advertise- 
ment in  1745  for  bids  for  laying  new  turf. 
In  this  year  also  the  line  of  the  houses  on 
Broadway  was  ordered  to  be  straightened,  so 
as  to  improve  the  appearance  of  Bowling 
Green.  The  gallants  and  ladies  of  those 
days  walked  there,  as  they  were  afterward 
allowed  to  do  on  the  ramparts  of  the  old 
fort,  little  dreaming  that  in  a  few  years  this 
plot  of  grass  would  witness  many  acts  that 
have  become  famous  in  the  history  of  our 
city. 

In  the  middle  of  the  square  was  erected  in 
1770  a  statue  of  George  III,  made  of  lead, 
and  standing  on  a  pedestal,  and  in  1771  an 
iron  fence  was  put  up  around  the  green, 
which  was  then  four-sided, not  oval  as  at  pres- 
ent. From  pictures  of  the  statue,  it  would 
seem  to  have  resembled  a  hundred  other 
statues  of  monarchs  erected  in  Europe  at 
about  that  time.  After  the  Declaration  of 
Independence  a  mob  (at  least  such  it  was  in 
the  eyes  of  the  English),  tore  down  the 


9 


statue  and  broke  it  into  pieces.  The  lead  was 
used  to  make  bullets  by  the  Americans,  but 
the  base  of  the  statue  remained  in  the  square 
for  many  years,  until  it  was  finally  removed 
and  its  place  taken  by  a  fountain,  in  1818. 
The  slab  which  was  on  top  of  the  pedestal 
is  in  the  possession  of  the  New  York  His- 
torical Society. 

In  1786  Chancellor  Livingston  received  au- 
thority to  lay  out  Bowling  Green  as  a  green, 
and  it  has  since  then  been  one  of  the  most 
pleasing  of  the  smaller  parks  in  this  City.  Its 
surroundings  were  much  improved  after  the 
destruction  and  removal  of  the  old  fort.  On 
the  site  of  the  fort  the  Government  House 
was  erected  in  1790.  It  was  originally  de- 
signed for  the  residence  of  President  Wash- 
ington, but,  the  Capitol  being  removed  to 
Philadelphia,  he  never  occupied  it.  It  then 
became  the  Governor's  house,  and  was  the 
residence  of  Governors  Clinton  and  Jay.  The 
building  was  used  for  the  Custom  House  from 
1799  until  1815,  when  it  was  taken  down.  It 
must  have  been  a  handsome  building,  old 
pictures  of  it  showing  it  to  have  been  of 
brick  and  stone,  with  a  handsome  portico  of 
four  columns  the  whole  height  of  the  build- 
ing. 

Bowling  Green  is  too  well  known  to  require 
any  very  lengthy  description  or  to  be  in  need 
of  any  particular  praise.  It  was  at  one  time 
surrounded  by  fashionable  residences,  and 


for  a  time,  in  1809,  the  New  York  Historical 
Society  occupied  rooms  overlooking  it.  Its 
trees  and  flowers  still  make  it  in  summer  a 
very  attractive  spot,  and  even  the  overpower- 
ing height  of  the  surrounding  buildings  can- 
not destroy  its  beauty. 

No  less  beautiful  is  the  adjoining  Battery, 
in  spite  of  the  disfiguring  mass 
Battery  Park,  of  the  elevated  railroad  struct- 
ure. It  must  be  borne  in  mind 
that  where  the  present  Battery  Park  i^,  there 
was  open  water  when  the  old  fort,  of  which 
mention  has  just  been  made,  was  built.  This 
condition  of  things  existed  until  near  the  end 
of  the  XVIII  century.  Where  the  Staten 
Island  ferry-houses  now  stand  was  open 
water.  What  is  now  Castle  Garden  was  also 
under  water.  State  Street  was  not  laid  out 
until  1789,  and  then  was  bounded  by  the  bay 
on  one  side.  What  is  now  Battery  Place — in 
earlier  days  called  Marketfield  Street — was 
water.  A  ledge  of  rock  stretched  across  the 
lower  end  of  Manhattan  Island  (they  are 
under  the  present  park)  and  facing  these 
rocks,  along  the  edge  of  the  water,  there 
was  built  in  the  early  days  a  line  of  works, 
then  known  as  "The  Battery."  These  works 
extended  from  Whitehall  Street  towards 
what  is  now  Rector  Street,  and  cannon  were 
mounted  behind  them,  which  according  to 
numerous  accounts  looked  much  more  for- 
midable than  they  actually  were.  The  name 


1 1 


which  was  then  given  to  these  works,  "The 
Battery,"  will,  it  is  to  be  hoped,  always  cling 
to  this  part  of  the  city,  and  not  be  changed,  as 
Chatham  Street  was  changed,  and  as  some 
people  would  have  the  Bowery  changed. 

In  about  1723  the  first  steps  were  taken  in 
connection  with  filling  in  in  front  of  the 
fort,  out  towards  the  present  water-line,  but 
it  took  many  years  for  the  land  to  reach  what 
is  now  the  bulkhead  line.  During  the  Revo- 
lution the  works  along  the  water  front  were 
repaired  and  again  armed,  but  as  the  Ameri- 
cans had  no  navy,  and  could  not  make  an  at- 
tack upon  New  York  from  the  water  side, 
they  were  never  put  to  any  practical  use. 

In  1806  the  United  States  Government 
constructed  Fort  Clinton,  now  known  as 
Castle  Garden,  upon  land  ceded  to  it  by  the 
State,  some  distance  out  into  the  water  from 
the  mainland,  with  which  it  was  connected 
by  a  bridge.  It  was  generally  considered  to 
be  a  formidable  structure,  but  its  use  was 
not  of  long  duration.  In  1822,  March  30, 
the  United  States  Government  ceded  Fort 
Clinton  to  New  York  City,  and  in  1823,  June 
16,  it  was  entirely  given  up  as  a  fortification. 
In  May,  1824,  the  City  leased  it  as  a  place  of 
amusement,  and  it  became  a  fashionable  re- 
sort known  as  Castle  Garden.  Upon  the 
roof  seats  were  built,  sloping  towards  the  in- 
terior. The  building,  it  was  said,  could  hold 
between  ten  and  fifteen  thousand  people. 


12 


All  kinds  of  entertainments  were  had  there, 
fireworks  were  let  off,  balloons  were  sent  up, 
and  glowing  descriptions  are  to  be  found  of 
the  beauties  of  the  place,  where  lanterns 
and  colored  lights  and  other  decorations 
helped  to  make  it  attractive.  There  Gen- 
eral Jackson  was  received,  and  General 
Lafayette  was  feted.  In  1847  the  place  be- 
came an  opera  house,  in  1855  it  was  an  emi- 
gration bureau,  and  in  1876  it  was  in  part 
destroyed  by  fire.  There  Jennie  Lind  sang, 
and  there  hundreds  of  thousands  of  emi- 
grants have  landed.    It  is  now  an  aquarium. 

On  the  Battery  Park  itself,  as  early  as 
1794,  one  Corre  was  licensed  to  sell  small 
drinks.  He  occupied  a  kind  of  stand  or 
kiosque,  and  this  event  was  apparently  of  suf- 
ficient importance  to  be  referred  to  in  many 
books  giving  an  account  of  the  Battery  at 
that  time.  Not  far  from  his  stand  was  a 
stone  tower,  surmounted  by  a  flag  staff,  and 
called  the  "  Churn,"  from  the  fancied  re- 
semblance of  the  structure  to  a  churn. 

As  has  already  been  said,  the  old  fort  which 
faced  the  Battery,  as  well  as  Bowling  Green 
(its  northwest  bastion  was  at  the  corner  of 
State  Street  and  Bowling  Green),  was  de- 
molished in  1788,  and  the  space  occupied  by 
it  and  the  gardens  south  of  it  were  used  for 
building  purposes.  Numerous  private  houses 
were  built  on  its  site,  facing  the  water  along 
State  street,  and  many  residences  stood  as 


*3 


well  along  Marketfield  Street  (now  Battery- 
Place),  and  along  lower  Broadway.  There 
resided  many  of  New  York's  old  families, 
like  the  Rays,  the  Schermerhorns,  the  Primes, 
the  Gracies,  the  Watts,  but  of  their  old 
residences  few,  if  any,  are  now  left.  On 
State  Street  in  particular,  a  few  years  ago, 
several  old  houses  could  still  be  seen. 

In  1826  an  iron  railing  was  erected  around 
the  Battery.  In  1844  the  Battery  is  described 
as  being  one  of  the  most  beautiful  places  in 
New  York  City,  although  the  writer  says  that 
it  is  abandoned  to  children.  In  fact,  at  that 
time  both  the  Battery  and  Bowling  Green 
seem  to  have  been  neglected  by  New 
Yorkers,  who  had  already  begun  to  make 
Sunday  excursions  up  towards  Harlem — a 
matter  which  brought  forth  bitter  complaints 
in  the  newspapers  by  the  Harlemites. 

Beautiful  as  Battery  Park  is,  and  attract- 
ive as  is  the  view  which  is  to  be  had  from  it, 
there  are  few  persons  who  would  be  willing 
to  use  the  following  romantic  language, 
which  is  quoted  from  a  description  of  this 
city  made  by  a  Philadelphian  in  1806: 

"Were  I  an  inhabitant  of  New  York,  I 
should  like  to  pass  the  fine  summer  evenings 
there,  particularly  when  the  moon  casts  her 
mellow  lustre  on  the  surrounding  waters, 
when  the  busy  hum  of  men  has  subsided,  and 
all  is  tranquil;  when  the  slumbering  winds  just 
fan  themselves  into  action,  and  bring  refresh- 
ment to  the  fainting  bosom." 


'4 


Leaving  the  Battery  and  going  north 
along  Broadway  past  Trinity  Churchyard 
and  St.  Paul's,  one  reaches  City  Hall  Park, 
— ground  which  has  witnessed  many  fa- 
miliar incidents  in  New  York  history.  One 
can  hardly  say  of  Broadway  what  a  writer, 
a  certain  Mrs.  Child,  said  in  1844,  on  a 
walk  to  the  park:  "Why  need  I  sigh  for 
green  fields?  Does  not  Broadway  super- 
abound  with  beauty?"  And  yet,  even  to 
the  matter-of-fact  residents  of  New  York, 
City  Hall  Park,  especially  in  the  spring, 
is  still  a  very  beautiful  spot. 

City  Hall  Park  is  but  a  small  portion  of 


land  stretching  from  where  the  Post  Office 
now  is,  northward  towards  the  Tombs,  and 
from  the  present  line  of  Broadway,  eastward 
across  what  was  at  one  time  the  Boston  Post 
Road  (now  Park  Row)  to  where  the  Sun 
Building  and  the  entrance  of  the  Bridge  now 
stand.  This  land  under  the  Dutch  was  used, 
as  all  Common  Lands  generally  were,  mainly 
for  the  grazing  of  cattle,  and  prior  to  1700  does 
not  appear  to  have  been  the  scene  of  anything 
historically  interesting.  It  was  in  general  a 
sort  of  undulating  meadow,  and  at  its  north- 
easterly end  was  a  pond,  called  the  "Collect," 
or  the  "Fresh  Water  Pond,"  near  where  the 
Tombs  now  stand.    One's  imagination  can 


City  Hall 
Park. 


what  in  the  latter  half  of  the 
seventeenth  century  was  the 
Common  Lands,  a  large  area-of 


IS 


run  riot  with  the  scenes  of  country  life  that 
must  have  been  found  here,  and  with  the 
views  across  the  commons  to  the  east,  or 
Lispenard's  Meadows  to  the  north,  but  no  im- 
agination is  needed  to  make  this  part  of  the 
city  of  historical  interest  to  the  citizens  of 
New  York. 

The  Commons  were,  as  a  portion  of  the 
unappropriated  lands  of  Manhattan  Island, 
granted  by  the  Dongan  charter,  April  22, 
1686,  to  the  Mayor,  etc.,  of  New  York,  and 
this  grant  was  confirmed  by  the  Mont- 
gomerie  charter,  February  u,  1730. 

What  ultimately  became  City  Hall  Park 
was  very  gradually  carved  out  of  the  Com. 
mons,  the  open  space  being  steadily  re- 
duced in  size  by  the  laying  out  of  streets, 
and  by  the  construction  of  buildings.  Thus 
near  the  site  of  the  present  City  Hall  was 
built  a  Powder  House,  in  1684,  and  in  1725 
a  gallows  was  erected  near  by.  In  1747  a 
line  of  palisades  was  run  across  the  Commons 
above  where  the  present  City  Hall 
stands.  It  was  about  as  useful  as  the  old 
one  at  Wall  street  a  hundred  years  or  so  be- 
fore had  been.  In  1757  what  is  now  used  as 
the  Register's  Office,  (some  times  called  the 
Hall  of  Records)  was  erected.  It  was  built 
for  a  jail,  and  was  known  as  the  New  Jail. 
In  1774  another  building  of  equally  sor- 
rowful memories,  the  Bridewell,  was  built, 
west  of  what  is  now  the  City  Hall,  while 


i6 


north  of  it  were  erected  barracks  for  the 
housing  of  the  British  soldiers.  The  site  of 
the  City  Hall  itself  was  at  this  time  occupied 
by  an  alms  house. 

As  the  City  and  its  business  grew,  certain 
restrictions  were  naturally  put  upon  the 
use  of  the  Commons.  Some  were  very 
peculiar.  Under  a  decree  made  in  1726 
no  hoop  sticks  were  to  be  cut  on  the  Com- 
mons ;  why,  it  does  not  appear.  In  1734  an 
order  was  made  that  no  fish  should  be 
caught  in  the  Fresh  Water  Pond  (which,  as 
has  been  said,  was  situated  near  the  present 
Tombs  north  of  Chambers  Street,  on  Centre 
Street),  except  by  angling.  As  business 
grew,  the  tanners  established  themselves  at 
this  end  of  the  Commons,  and  were  allowed 
in  1745  to  tan  at  the  Fresh  Water  Pond. 

The  boundaries  of  the  Commons  became 
more  restricted  when  in  1760  Broadway  was 
laid  out.  There  had  been  a  ropewalk  along 
the  Commons  where  Broadway  now  is. 
Chambers  street  was  laid  out  about  1760; 
Park  Row  is  a  part  of  the  old  Post  Road.  In 
1787  the  first  steps  were  taken  towards  im- 
proving the  present  park,  by  making  prepar- 
ations for  the  sowing  of  grass.  But  in  this 
space  of  twenty-seven  years  much  had 
happened.  The  Revolution  had  occurred 
and  the  City  had  been  the  scene  of  much 
misery  ;  the  Colonies  had  gained  their  free- 
dom and  had  become  the  United  States,  and 


i7 


New  York  had  entered  upon  a  new  era. 
During  these  years  City  Hall  Park  was  the 
scene  of  many  exciting  events  which  are 
well  worth  recalling. 

In  1765,  the  notorious  Stamp  Act  aroused 
as  much  excitement  in  New  York  as  it  did 
in  Boston.  As  soon  as  the  stamps  were 
brought  to  New  York  the  good  citizens  held 
a  meeting  on  the  Commons  to  protest  against 
this  unjust  infringement  upon  their  rights 
and  liberties.  On  November  1  of  that  year 
an  excited  crowd  of  citizens  met  there  and 
proceeded  in  a  body  to  Lieut. -Gov.  Colden's 
stable  under  the  guns  of  the  fort  at  Bowling 
Green,  carried  off  his  coach  to  the  Commons; 
erected  a  gallows  with  two  arms,  upon  one 
of  which  the  Lieutenant-Governor  was  hung 
in  effigy,  with  a  very  forcible  inscription 
attached,  while  from  the  other  arm  swung 
a  figure  of  the  devil.  But  not  content  with 
this,  the  mob  paraded  down  Broadway  again 
with  the  coach  and  the  gallows,  and,  tearing 
up  some  of  his  Excellency's  stockade,  burned 
up  coach  and  gallows  and  effigies  under  his 
very  eyes. 

His  Excellency,  the  Lieutenant-Governor, 
thus  describes  this  event  in  a  letter  to  the 
Rt.  Hon.  H.  S.  Conway,  November  5,  1765: 

"  In  a  day  or  two  after  the  date  of  my  Letter 
of  the  26th  of  last  Month  which  I  had  the 
honour  to  write  to  you,  the  Packages  of  stamp'd 
Papers  were  landed  from  his  Majesty's  ship 


[8 


Garland  at  noonday  without  a  Guard  or  the 
least  appearance  of  discontent  among  the  Peo- 
ple. This  gave  me  great  hopes  that  1  should  be 
able  to  deliver  up  the  administration  of  Gov- 
ernment to  Sir  Henry  Moore  as  I  had  inform'd 
you  I  had  much  at  heart  to  do. 

"  But  on  the  evening  of  the  first  day  of  this 
month  the  Mob  began  to  collect  together,  & 
after  it  became  dark,  they  came  up  to  the  Fort 
Gate  with  a  great  number  of  boys  carrying 
Torches  &  a  scaffold  on  which  two  Immages 
were  placed:  One  to  represent  the  Governor  in 
his  grey  hairs,  &  the  other  the  Devil  by  his 
side.  The  scaffold  with  the  Immages  was 
brought  up  within  8  or  io  feet  of  the  Fort  gate 
with  the  grossest  ribaldry  from  the  Mob.  As 
they  went  from  the  Gate  they  broke  open  my 
coach  house,  took  my  chariot  out  of  it,  &  car- 
ried it  round  the  Town  with  the  Immages,  & 
return'd  to  the  Fort  Gate  from  whence  they 
carried  them  to  an  open  place,  where  they  had 
erected  a  Jibbett  within  ioo  yards  of  the  Fort 
Gate,  there  hung  up  the  Immages.  After 
hanging  some  time  they  were  cut  down,  & 
burnt  in  a  fire  prepared  for  the  purpose  to- 
gether with  my  Chariot  a  single  Horse  chair 
and  two  sledges,  our  usual  Carriage  when 
Snow  is  on  the  Ground,  which  they  took  out  of 
my  Coach  House.  While  this  was  doing,  a 
great  number  of  Gentlemen  of  the  Town,  if 
they  can  be  called  so,  stood  round  to  observe 
this  outrage  on  their  King's  Governor.  The 
Garrison  was  at  the  same  time  on  the  Ram- 
parts with  preparation  sufficient  to  have  de- 
stroyed them,  but  not  a  single  return  was  made 
in  words  or  otherwise  from  any  Man  in  the 
Fort  while  this  egregious  Insult  was  perform- 
ing.   You  may  be  assured,  Sir,  that  the  Peo- 


i9 


pie  of  this  place  have  not  had  at  any  time  the 
least  provocation  from  me,  either  in  words  or 
any  kind  of  action  other  than  the  receiving  the 
Packages  with  the  stamped  Papers  into  the 
Fort,  &  putting  the  Fort  in  a  Posture  of  De- 
fense, after  open  and  bold  Threats  were  made 
of  takeing  it  by  Force,  tho'  every  artifice  was 
used  to  make  me  say  or  do  some  rash  thing." 

Two  days  later  (November  3,  1765),  in 
order  to  prevent  their  use  by  the  citizens, 
the  guns  along  the  Battery,  of  which  there 
was  a  large  number,  were  carefully  spiked. 
It  was  surmised  that  this  was  done  under 
Colden's  instructions,  and,  as  a  matter  of 
fact,  the  surmise  was  correct.  When  the 
citizens  discovered  this  they  took  a  cannon 
to  the  Commons,  put  on  it  the  effigy  of 
Lieut. -Gov.  Colden,  with  a  drill  in  his  hands, 
as  if  he  were  working  to  get  the  spike  out  of 
the  vent,  and  burned  it  amidst  great  excite- 
ment. But  no  open  breach  occurred  between 
the  citizens  and  the  Lieutenant-Governor's 
forces,  and  with  that  singular  change  in  opin- 
ion which  sways  a  mass  of  people  in  a  man- 
ner often  quite  unaccountable,  when,  in  1766 
the  Stamp  Act  was  repealed,  there  was  a 
great  celebration  by  the  citizens  on  the  Com- 
mons in  honor  of  the  King's  birthday.  This 
was,  however,  one  of  the  last  acts  done  in 
honor  of  the  King  on  that  land  by  the  Ameri- 
cans. For,  with  the  erection  of  a  liberty 
pole  at  the  time  of  the  celebration  just  spoken 
of,  and  its  destruction  in  1767  by  the  Eng- 


2  a 


lish  soldiers,  began  a  series  of  tumultuous 
scenes,  which  culminated  with  the  Revolu- 
tion. The  liberty  pole  was  cut  down  four 
times,  and  each  time  re-erectcd  on  the  Com- 
mons. The  last  one  set  up  in  1770  stood  un- 
til 1776.  In  January,  1770,  there  was  a  fight 
between  the  Sons  of  Liberty  and  the  soldiers 
in  front  of  the  jail,  arising  out  of  a  scurrilous 
article  posted  about  the  town  by  the  soldiers 
after  the  destruction  of  the  fourth  pole.  The 
fifth  pole  was  raised  in  February  in  spite  of 
opposition  by  the  soldiers,  and  on  land  pur- 
chased by  the  Sons  of  Liberty  somewhere 
near  Warren  street.  It  was  strengthened 
and  protected  with  iron  bars  and  rods,  and 
bore  a  vane,  with  the  word  "  Liberty,"  and  a 
flag,  with  the  inscription,"  Liberty  and  Prop- 
erty," the  first  of  its  kind  in  New  York. 

Event  followed  event  rapidly  until  in  July, 
1776,  the  Declaration  of  Independence  was 
read  on  the  Commons.  Then  came  the  bat- 
tle of  Long  Island,  which  resulted  in  New 
York  City  being  occupied  by  the  English. 
The  next  years  saw  many  American  pris- 
oners confined  in  the  New  Jail,  with  much 
suffering  and  no  little  unnecessary  cruelty. 

At  the  close  of  the  war  improvements  in 
the  Park  began  to  be  made.  In  1792  the 
first  post  and  rail  fence  were  erected.  In  1 794 
a  lottery  was  authorized  to  raise  funds  for  a 
new  Alms  House.  The  old  Alms  House  was 
torn  down  and  the  new  one  erected  in  1796 


2  1 


on  Chambers  street.  The  erection  of  the 
present  City  Hall,  the  handsomest  and  best 
piece  of  architecture  that  has  survived  from 
those  days  was  authorized  in  1802;  its  corner- 
stone was  laid  by  Mayor  Livingston  in  1803, 
and  in  181 1,  July  4,  the  Corporation  met  there 
for  the  first  time.  The  building  is  well  worth 
a  careful  examination, its  handsome  front  and 
its  interesting  staircase,  as  well  as  its  inter- 
ior decorations,  as  far  as  they  have  escaped 
the  blight  of  restorations,  are  as  fine  as  any- 
thing of  their  kind  in  this  country.  It  is 
built  on  three  sides  of  marble,  and  the  writer 
will  surely  be  pardoned  for  referring  to  the 
fact  that  the  north  side  was  built  of  brown- 
stone,  and  not  of  marble.  This  has  recently 
been  painted  white. 

In  182 1  an  iron  railing  was  put  up  about 
the  Park,  and  at  the  entrance  at  the  southern 
end  there  was  a  gate,  the  posts  of  which  were 
surmounted  by  some  old  Turkish  stone  can- 
non balls,  brought  from  the  East  by  a  Grecian 
pilot,  as  the  story  goes.  It  is  said  that  this 
railing  was  brought  into  this  country  under 
a  trick,  so  that  the  duty  on  it  was  much  less 
than  it  should  have  been.  But  all  this  has 
long  since  disappeared,  and  on  the  site  of 
this  entrance  stands  now  one  of  the  greatest 
eyesores  on  lower  Broadway,  the  Post 
Office. 

The  Alms  House,  which  was  built  along 
what  is  now  Chambers  Street,  and  where, 


22 


as  has  been  said,  the  British  barracks  once 
stood,  was  occupied  by  the  Historical  Society 
and  other  institutions  for  a  short  period 
(about  1816).  This  building-,  afterwards 
known  as  the  "New  City  Hall,"  was  occupied 
in  1840  by  the  Marine  Court  and  Court  of 
Sessions  ;  then  it  was  used  in  part  by  the 
Law  Library,  while  part  of  it  was  used  for 
offices.  In  January,  1856,  it  was  destroyed  by 
fire.  On  its  site  the  new  Court  House  was 
afterwards  built. 

In  the  mean  time,  the  Park  itself  became 
more  and  more  beautiful.  When  the  Croton 
Aqueduct  was  built,  a  fountain  was  erected 
on  the  Broadway  side  of  the  park,  which  was 
spoken  of  with  great  enthusiasm.  It  was  said 
that  there  was  nothing  equal  to  it  in  France 
or  Italy.  Its  jets  could  be  made  to  take  vari- 
ous shapes,  and  when  the  water  rose  in  a 
single  jet  it  reached  a  height  of  70  feet.  Be- 
tween 1800  and  1861  little  of  interest  occurred 
in  the  Park.  During  the  Rebellion  sheds 
were  built  on  the  triangle,  where  the  Post 
Office  now  stands,  and  there  the  soldiers 
were  supplied  with  food.  After  the  war, 
most  unfortunately  for  the  city,  this  plot  of 
ground  was  transferred  to  the  LTnited  States 
Government  for  its  present  purpose. 

City  Hall  Park  is  unique  in  its  character 
among  New  York  parks.  Through  no  other 
park  in  the  city  do  such  vast  throngs  of 
people  pass  every  day.    Every  morning  and 


23 


every  evening  thousands  upon  thousands  of 
men  and  women,  young  and  old,  cross  be- 
tween the  City  Hall  and  the  Court  House  on 
their  way  to  and  from  the  Bridge.  Judges, 
lawyers,  clients,  clerks  and  jurymen,  and  the 
numberless  outside  hangers-on  of  the  courts, 
are  to  be  seen  about  the  Court  House.  Poli- 
ticians are  numerous  about  the  City  Hall, 
and  the  constant  stream  of  wagons  in  Mail 
Street,  is  one  of  the  many  proofs  of  the  size 
of  the  city  and  the  extent  of  its  business. 

This  park  is  the  scene  of  the  greatest  ex- 
citement on  election  nights,  and  has  at  times 
been  the  scene  of  sorrowful  processions  and 
meetings,  as  when  Lincoln's  and  Grant's 
bodies  lay  in  state  in  City  Hall.  With  all 
its  past  history  it  was  quite  fitting  that  the 
monument  of  Hale,  who  gave  his  life  for  the 
liberty  of  his  country,  should  be  placed  so 
near  to  where  the  Sons  of  Liberty  first 
erected  their  Liberty  Pole,  and  fought  to 
save  this  outward  mark  of  their  independ- 
ence from  destruction. 

Still  farther  north  in  the  City  are  to  be 
found  a  number  of  well-known  parks  and 
squares,  all  of  much  more  recent  date,  how- 
ever, than  the  Battery  and  City  Hall  Park. 

Madison  Square  was  laid  out  as  a  Potter's 


used  by  the  Alms  House  as  a  burial  place. 


Madison 
Square. 


Field  in  1794,  at  what  was  then 
the  junction  of  the  Post  and 
Bloomingdale  roads,  and  was 


24 


Serious  objections  having  been  raised,  how- 
ever, by  the  property  owners  of  adjoining 
land  to  its  use  for  this  purpose,  it  was 
abandoned  in  1797,  and  the  Potter's  Field 
was  moved  to  Washington  Square.  In  1806, 
the  United  States  Government  erected  in 
Madison  Square  an  extensive  arsenal  which 
was  subsequently  abandoned.  In  1823  the 
buildings  for  the  Society  for  Juvenile  De- 
linquents, one  of  the  first  institutions  of  its 
kind  in  the  City,  were  erected  on  the 
square  and  there  remained  until  1830,  when 
they  were  destroyed  by  fire. 

Washington  Square,  after  being  a  parade 


resided  for  many  years  past.  Here  the 
Washington  Arch  has  recently  been  erected, 
but  the  picturesque  old  university  building 
is  gone.  The  ceremonies  attending  the  lay- 
ing of  the  corner  stone  of  the  arch,  and  its 
final  dedication,  are  too  recent  and  too  well 
known  to  be  commented  on.  Like  every 
other  City  Park,  this  square  is  crowded  with 
men,  women  and  children  in  the  summer, 
particularly  in  the  evening,  a  striking  proof 
of  the  necessity  of  breathing  spaces  for  the 
people  of  a  great  city. 

On  the  plan  of  the  Commissioners  in  1807, 
an  enormous  parade  ground  was  laid  out, 
extending  from  23d  Street  to  34th  Street, 


Washington 
Square. 


ground  and  a  Putter's  Field,  be- 
came a  public  square,  where 
many  well-known  citizens  have 


2  5 


and  from  Third  Avenue  to  Seventh  Avenue, 
and  including,  of  course,  what 


fortunate  for  the  City  that  this  parade  ground 
was  abandoned.  Valuable  as  it  would  have 
been,  it  could  not  have  been  kept  as  a  square, 
and  would  necessarily  have  been  cut  up  by- 
streets, for  the  reason  that  it  blocked  so  many 
of  the  main  arteries  of  the  City.  Imagine  it 
crossed  by  two  lines  of  elevated  roads,  three 
lines  of  cable  cars,  and  numberless  horse  cars! 
Union  Square,  which  is  situated  at  the 


Avenue  and  Broadway,  respectively,  is,  from 
a  historical  point  of  view,  no  more  important 
than  Madison  Square.  In  1815  a  small  square 
called  Union  Place  was  laid  out  here,  and 
appears  to  have  been  early  enclosed  in  a  rail- 
ing, and  ornamented  with  a  fountain.  It  was 
not,  however,  until  February  1,  1832,  that  an 
act  was  passed  enlarging  the  square  to  its 
present  size.  Until  recently  a  stone  was  to 
be  seen  in  the  sidewalk  upon  the  easterly  side 
of  Fourth  Avenue  opposite  the  square,  bear- 
ing an  inscription  referring  to  its  foundation. 

Those  who  have  not  seen  Union  Square 
in  summer  can  form  no  idea  of  its  beauty 
and  of  the  careful  work  done  by  the  Depart- 
ment of  Parks,  in  connection  with  the  flowers 


Parade 
Ground. 


is  now  Madison  Square,  and 
much   other  property.    It  is 


Union 
Square. 


junction  of  the  old  Boston  Post 
Road  and  the  Bloomingdale 
Road,  now  known  as  Fourth 


26 


and  plants  which  are  set  out  by  it  during 
the  summer.  Especially  beautiful  is  the 
display  of  water  plants  in  the  fountain, 
where  water  lilies,  lotus  and  papyrus,  can  be 
seen  growing  in  great  profusion. 

Tompkins  Square,  situated  on  the  east 
side  of  the  City,  between  7th 
„  and  10th  Streets  and  Avenues 

Square 

A  and  B,  is  a  very  large  open 
space  originally  laid  out  in  1833.  It  was  used 
for  a  parade  ground,  and  was  at  one  time 
(about  1869),  paved  to  a  great  extent.  It  has 
since  been  remodeled,  and  is  now  covered 
with  grass.  There,  again,  hundreds  of  people 
congregate  during  the  evenings  of  the  sum- 
mer months. 
Gramercy  Park,  which  intersects  Irving 

Place,  between  20th  and  22d 
arparkCy    Streets,  is  the  only  remaining 

private  park  in  New  York. 
Gramercy  Park,  while  it  has  not  as  fine  trees 
as  some  of  the  other  parks,  is,  nevertheless, 
well  worth  a  visit,  especially  in  the  spring, 
as  it  is  well  cared  for,  and  the  trees  and 
grass  are  always  in  good  condition.  It  was 
laid  out  by  Mr.  Ruggles,  who  owned  much 
property  around  the  park. 

Some  years  ago  St.  John's  Park,  another 

private  park,  once  known  as 
St.  John  s    jjucjson  park  the  site  of  which 

is  now  occupied  by  the  freight 
station  of  the  New  York  Central  Railroad, 


2  7 


at  Hudson  and  Laight  Streets,  was  the  pride 
of  that  part  of  the  City,  and  there  are  un- 
doubtedly some  people  who  still  think, 
with  regret  if  not  with  bitterness,  of  the 
destruction  of  the  park,  and  of  its  fine 
trees.  These  trees  are  referred  to  by  many 
writers  of  New  York,  as  it  existed  forty 
years  or  more  ago,  as  being  very  beautiful. 
Stuyvesant  Square,  through  which  Second 
Avenue    runs,  between  15th 

^Sware"'  and  I7th  Streets>  and  which  is 
thus  divided  into  two  parts,  is, 

as  far  as  its  western  half  is  concerned,  to  be 
compared  with  any  other  of  the  small  parks 
of  the  City.  Like  Gramercy  Park,  it  is  sur- 
rounded by  a  high  iron  railing,  and  it  re- 
sembles that  park,  although  it  is  not  as 
picturesque. 

The  parks,  the  history  of  which  has  been 
followed  so  far,  and  of  which  some  are 
among  the  oldest  parks  in  the  City,  were  not 
laid  out  pursuant  to  any  particular  plan  or 
under  any  special  law,  and  in  some  instances 
are  but  the  result  of  a  very  gradual  de- 
velopment. The  parks  at  the  Battery  and 
the  City  Hall,  and  Washington,  Tompkins, 
Union  and  Madison  Squares,  and  the  other 
open  spaces  in  the  lower  part  of  the  City, 
some  of  which  have  been  public  grounds  for 
two  centuries  or  more,  were  used  either  as 
squares,  or  parade  grounds,  or  at  times  even 
for  markets  or  burial  places.    They  were 


28 


maintained  by  the  Board  of  Supervisors,  the 
Commissioners  of  Streets  and  other  city 
functionaries,  who,  from  time  to  time  were 
charged  with  that  duty  before  the  present 
Park  Department  was  created.  But  Central 
Park  and  the  other  parks  in  the  upper  part 
of  the  City,  were  laid  out  upon  well-defined 
lines  and  in  pursuance  of  carefully  con- 
ceived plans,  and,  in  fact,  the  great  develop- 
ment of  the  present  park  system,  which  now 
covers  an  area  of  more  than  5,000  acres,  was 
begun  with  the  laying  out  of  Central  Park. 
In  185 1  Mayor  Kingsland  addressed  the 

Common  Council   in  a  short, 
jKlSfc       spirited  message  on  the  subject 

of  new  parks  in  New  York. 
He  urged  the  Committee  on  Lands  and 
Places  to  examine  into  this  question,  and 
the  matter  was  taken  up  so  promptly  and 
vigorously  that  in  July,  185 1,  at  a  special 
session  of  the  Legislature,  an  act  was  passed 
authorizing  the  taking  of  St.  John's  Wood 
as  a  park.  This  was  a  wild  and  beautifully 
wooded  tract  of  land  lying  between  66th  and 
75th  Streets,  Third  Avenue  and  the  East 
River,  with  a  high,  steep  bluff  overlooking 
the  river. 

Hardly  had  this  act  been  passed  when 
vigorous  opposition  was  aroused,  prompted 
mainly  by  worthy  motives,  in  part,  it  is  said, 
by  personal  feeling,  and  a  very  strong  move- 
ment was  begun  in  favor  of  what  is  now 


29 


Central  Park.  A  committee  of  the  Common 
Council  reported  strongly  in  favor  of  Central 
Park,  and  in  July,  1853,  an  act  was  passed 
creating  a  Commission,  and  authorizing 
the  taking  of  land  between  59th  Street 
and  106th  Street,  Fifth  Avenue  and  Eighth 
Avenue  as  a  public  park.  The  proceed- 
ings which  were  subsequently  commenced 
for  acquiring  title  to  the  land,  were 
confirmed  February  5,  1856,  and  on  the 
17th  of  April  of  the  following  year  an  act 
was  passed  designating  the  land  as  "  The 
Central  Park,"  and  providing  for  its  laying 
out,  improvement,  regulation  and  govern- 
ment by  a  board  consisting  of  eleven  per- 
sons, styled  "The  Commissioners  of  the 
Central  Park."  This  commission  consisted 
of  Robert  J.  Dillon,  James  E.  Cooley,  Charles 
H.  Russell,  John  F.  Butterworth,  John  E.  C. 
Gray,  Waldo  Hutchins,  Thomas  C.  Fields, 
Andrew  H.  Green,  Charles  W.  Elliott,  Wil- 
liam K.  Strong  and  James  Hogg.  By  an  act 
passed  April  2,  1859,  the  lands  for  the  Park 
were  extended  northerly  to  110th  Street. 

The  Commissioners  entered  upon  their 
duties  early  in  the  year  1859,  and  vacancies, 
which  until  April,  1859,  were  filled  by  nomina- 
tion of  the  Board,  added  to  the  Board  August 
Belmont,  Henry  G.  Stebbins,  Richard  M. 
Blatchford  and  Moses  H.  Grinnell.  In  the 
spring  of  1870  the  charter  of  that  year 
created  the  Department  of  Public  Parks,  to 


to 


be  governed  by  a  board  of  five  members, 
and  extended  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Depart- 
ment over  all  parks  and  public  grounds 
above  Canal  street.  A  law  of  a  few  days 
later,  amending  the  charter,  included  the  re- 
maining parks  south  of  that  street.  This 
law  remained  in  force  until  1873,  when  the 
present  charter  reduced  the  Board  to  four 
members,  its  present  number. 

The  Commission  appointed  in  1853  called 
for  plans  for  the  Central  Park,  and  thirty- 
three  were  submitted — some  fantastic,  some 
wholly  unpractical,  others  good.  But  the 
design  which  seems  to  have  been  unques- 
tionably superior  to  all  others,  and  which  all 
see  and  enjoy  in  its  execution,  was  that  sub- 
mitted by  two  men,  whose  names  will  ever 
be  associated  with  this  wonderful  piece  of 
work — Frederick  Law  Olmsted  and  Calvert 
Vaux. 

While  it  would  not  be  possible  to  describe 
the  Olmsted  and  Vaux  plan,  it  may  be  well 
to  refer  to  some  of  the  methods  pursued  in 
laying  out  Central  Park.  There  was  to  be  a 
driveway  so  laid  out  as  to  give  as  long  and 
as  beautiful  a  road  as  possible.  There  were 
to  be  cross-drives  and  walks  for  pedestrians  ; 
there  were  to  be  ponds  and  cascades,  meadows 
and  flower  beds;  there  were  to  be  gates  at 
various  points,  and  the}''  appear  on  the  maps 
with  such  name  as  Scholars'  Gate,  Artists' 
Gate,   Strangers'   Gate,  Woodman's  Gate, 


3i 


Warriors'  Gate — names  which  are  seldom,  if 
ever,  applied.  Great  care  was  taken  to  pre- 
serve as  much  as  possible  of  the  natural 
beauty  of  the  ground.  At  the  same  time,  in 
many  instances,  the  skill  of  the  landscape 
gardener  was  applied  to  the  production  of 
effects  so  like  Nature  that  it  is  difficult  to 
tell  where  Nature  ends  and  landscape 
gardening  begins. 

The  grounds  now  forming  Central  Park 
were  described  forty  years  ago  as  being 
thickets  and  swamps,  pestilential  pools  and 
rocky  gulleys,  covered  with  unsightly  hovels, 
and  their  attending  nuisances.  The  char- 
acter of  the  soil  was  rough,  covered  with 
rank  herbage,  and  without  much  healthy 
vegetation.  All  this  has  been  changed. 
While  the  general  topography  remains  the 
same,  and  the  lakes  and  water- courses  are 
natural,  they  were  subjected  to  careful  treat- 
ment to  secure  the  best  effects.  Thus  the 
westerly  end  of  Harlem  Creek,  which  ex- 
tended from  uoth  Street  and  Fifth  Avenue 
to  the  East  River,  was  made  into  a  lake  ;  the 
ravines  just  west  of  this  lake  were  carefully 
preserved,  and  the  wisdom  of  the  extension  of 
the  park  from  106th  to  uoth  Streets  is  appar- 
ent to  all  who  know  this  part  of  Central  Park. 

From  old  Fort  Fish,  at  the  northeast- 
erly end  of  the  Park,  on  one  of  its  highest 
points,  one  can  easily  follow  with  the  eye  the 
chain  of  hills  which  extends  across  Man- 


$2 


hattan  Island  from  about  125th  Street  and 
North  River  in  the  direction  of  80th  Street 
and  East  River.  These  hills  run  south  from 
125th  Street,  forming-  a  ridge  on  which  now 
stand  Columbia  College  and  St.  Luke's  Hos- 
pital, and  upon  which  the  Cathedral  is  to  be 
built.  Their  eastern  face  is  now  known  as 
Morningside  Park ;  their  western  slope  is 
Riverside  Drive.  At  110th  Street  a  line  of 
hills  branches  off  east  and  south  across  the 
northern  end  of  the  Park,  and  thence  to  the 
East  River.  These  hills  were  crossed  by 
McGowan's  Pass,  and  along  the  top  of  the 
hills  were  constructed  various  military  works 
during  the  Revolution,  and  again  at  the  time 
of  the  War  of  181 2.  The  remains  of  some  of 
the  old  fortifications  erected  in  18 12  can  still 
be  traced,  among  others,  Fort  Fish.  It  de- 
fended McGowan's  Pass,  which  crossed  the 
hills  near  what  is  now  the  East  Drive.  A 
great  many  remains  of  military  works  have 
been  discovered  in  this  neighborhood,  in 
making  excavations  for  improvements,  and 
on  the  elevation  known  as  Great  Hill,  on  the 
westerly  side  of  the  Park  from  104th  to  106th 
Streets,  traces  of  old  encampments  were 
found  in  the  shape  of  tent  floors,  camp  uten- 
sils, and  other  similar  articles.  The  Block 
House,  at  the  northwesterly  corner  of  the 
Park, overlooks  the  hillsoverwhich theBritish 
retreated  in  the  Battle  of  Harlem  Heights. 
As  has  been  more  than  once  described  in 


33 


papers  read  before  the  New  York  Historical 
Society,  they  passed  over  the  present  site  of 
Columbia  College,  and  crossed  to  where  the 
northwest  corner  of  Central  Park  now  is, 
followed  by  the  Americans  to  near  this 
point. 

From  the  hills  at  the  northern  end  of  the 
Park  to  the  great  Reservoir,  the  land  is  very 
irregular,  and  here  and  there  the  rocks 
show  unquestioned  traces  of  the  action  of  ice. 
Just  north  of  the  Reservoir  in  a  broad  valley 
are  the  meadows,  where  in  summer  tennis 
courts  are  laid  out,  and  hundreds  of  people 
enjoy  themselves  at  this  game.  Standing 
here,  it  is  difficult  to  believe  that  one  is  in  a 
city,  less  than  half  a  mile  away  from  elevated 
roads  and  cable  cars,  and  all  the  other  roar 
and  bustle  of  a  very  noisy  city. 

The  southern  half  of  Central  Park  differs 
very  much  from  the  northern  part.  It  has 
been  laid  out  more  artificially  than  the  upper 
end,  and  has  been  much  more  carefully 
cultivated  and  ornamented.  This  was  of 
necessity  the  case  by  reason  of  the  different 
formation  of  the  land,  there  being  no  such 
natural  beauties  in  this  part  of  the  park 
as  are  to  be  found  among  the  hills  and 
rocks  at  the  northern  end.  Neverthe- 
less, the  fine  trees  along  the  Mall  and  else- 
where, the  broad  meadows  and  the  lakes, 
well  merit  admiration,  and  anyone  who 
has  been  in  Central  Park  about  the  first  of 


34 


May  will  be  convinced  that  these  meadows 
are  withoutquestion  the  greatest  playgrounds 
of  the  children  of  New  York.  Near,  too,  we 
find  the  Metropolitan  Museum  of  Art,  whose 
influence  has  not,  however,  prevented  the 
continued  existence  of  such  statues  as  those 
of  Burns  and  Scott. 

Of  course,  the  cost  of  the  land  taken  for 
Central  Park  was  great,  the  amount  being 
over  five  millions,  and  its  construction  and 
maintenance,  as  the  writer  is  informed  by  the 
Secretary  of  the  Park  Department,  has  cost 
up  to  the  present  time  upwards  of  fifteen 
millions  of  dollars.  The  area  of  Central 
Park  is  840  acres,  its  length  a  little 
more  than  2\  miles,  and  its  width  a  trifle 
over  £  a  mile.  The  space  occupied  by  the 
Croton  Water  Reservoirs  and  the  Trans- 
verse Roads  reduces  the  actual  park  area  to 
about  683  acres.  Its  lakes  and  ornamen- 
tal waters  cover  an  area  of  nearly  44^  acres. 
What  the  value  of  the  land  is,  it  is  difficult 
to  say.  Ex-Mayor  Gilroy  put  it,  in  an  article 
written  by  him  on  the  wealth  of  New  York, 
at  two  hundred  millions,  and  it  can  hardly 
be  doubted  that  this  is  a  reasonable  estimate 
of  its  value.  The  great  improvements  made 
in  the  Park  have  at  the  same  time  unques- 
tionably affected  adjoining  property,  and 
helped  to  enhance  its  value.  In  1856,  the 
year  before  the  Park  was  taken,  the  assessed 
value  of  land  and  property  in  the  various 


35 


wards  adjoining  Central  Park  was  some- 
what under  twenty-one  millions,  while  in 
the  year  1895  its  value  had  risen  to  over  six 
hundred  and  eighty  millions.  Much  of 
this  increase  is  without  doubt  due  to  Central 
Park. 

After  Central  Park  was  laid  out,  nothing 
was  done  for  some  years  in  connection  with 
adding  additional  area  to  the  park  lands  of 
the  City,  but  in  1869  what  is  now  known  as 
Riverside  Park  was  laid  out  along  the  west- 


Street.  The  bank  of  the  North  River  is  here 
high  and  steep,  and  no  better  use  could  have 
been  made  of  it  than  that  to  which  it  has 
been  put.  The  land  for  the  park  was  ac- 
quired in  1872  at  a  cost  of  over  $6,000,000. 
The  area  of  the  park  is  177.8  acres.  The 
first  improvement  was  the  construction  of 
Riverside  Drive,  from  7  2d  Street,  north, 
which  was  opened  to  the  public  in  1880,  and 
is  now  practically  complete,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  a  viaduct,  which  is  to  carry  it  over 
the  depression  at  96th  Street.  The  park  on 
the  west  of  the  Drive,  that  is,  on  the  slope  of 
the  hills  running  down  to  the  river,  has  not 
yet  been  completed,  but  much  work  has  been 
done  in  planting  shrubs  and  in  the  preserva- 
tion of  trees,  many  of  which  are  fine  and 
large,  and  the  result  of  natural  growth.  At 


Riverside 
Park. 


erly  slope  of  the  hills,  which 
have  previously  been  spoken  of 
as  running  south  from  125th 


36 


the  upper  end  of  Riverside  Drive  is  the  well- 
known  Claremont,  overlooking  the  river,  and 
here  is  the  magnificent  tomb  of  General 
Grant.  Near  by,  in  striking  contrast,  is  the 
odd  little  monument  erected  to  the  memory 
of  "An  Amiable  Child,"  around  which  many 
sentimental  stories  have  been  woven. 

Morningside  Park  runs  along  the  easterly 
slope  of  the  range  of  hills,  the  westerly 
slope  of  which  is  taken  up  by 
MOrparkS'de  Riverside.  Morningside,  River- 
side and  Central  Parks  do  not 
quite  meet,  but  are  so  connected  by  broad 
streets,  that  one  may  drive  or  walk  from  j2d 
Street  and  the  North  River  up  to  1 20th  Street 
across  to  Morningside  Park,  and  south  again 
to  110th  Street,  thence  to  Central  Park,  and 
through  that  park  to  59th  Street,  nearly  all 
the  way  within  the  domain  of  city  parks 
Those  who  ride  a  bicycle  are  undoubtedly 
familiar  with  this  stretch  of  park  land. 
Morningside  was  a  few  years  ago  a  rugged 
bluff  of  bare  rocks,  now  made  beautiful  by 
shrubs,  grass  plots  and  flowers,  where  under 
the  usual  New  York  system  of  laying  out 
streets,  one  might  have  expected  to  find 
gullies  with  vertical  walls  of  rock,  like  rail- 
road cuts. 

Much  money  had  to  be  spent  in  accom- 
plishing the  results  obtained  here,  and  Morn- 
ingside Park,  which  contains  slightly  over  31 
acres,  has  cost  over  $1,500,000  for  the  land 


37 


alone.  But  the  results  are  well  worth  the 
money  spent.  At  the  northerly  end  of  the 
Park  are  further  remains  of  some  old  fortifi- 
cations of  1812. 

The  view  east  from  the  top  of  this  park  is 
well  worth  seeing.  The  roadway  overlooks 
the  flat  land  of  Harlem,  and  beyond  this  one 
sees  the  East  River,  and  far  beyond  Long 
Island  and  the  upper  end  of  New  York 
across  the  Harlem  River. 

The  stretch  of  parks  from  59th  Street  and 
Fifth  Avenue  to  125th  Street  and  the  North 
River  is  unrivalled  for  beauty  in  any  city  in 
the  world.  Much  admiration  seems  to  have 
been  wasted  on  the  plan  adopted  by  the 
Commissioners  in  1807,  in  so  far  as  it  made 
provision  for  parks.  Too  much,  however, 
cannot  be  said  in  praise  of  Mayor  Kingsland 
and  the  able  Commissioners  who  had  charge 
of  Central  Park,  and  adopted  the  Olmstead 
and  Vaux  plans.  Nor  can  too  much  be  said  in 
praise  of  the  policy  which  led  to  the  creation 
of  Morningside  and  Riverside  parks,  and  has 
since  led  to  the  laying  out  of  parks  north  of 
the  Harlem. 

In  the  early  eighties  a  new  burst  of  energy 

led  to  the  extension  of  the  Citv's 
Parks  North  of  ,  ,  , 
the  Harlem  ^a  domain  m  a  wholly  un- 
precedented manner.  Instead 
of  waiting  for  New  York  to  cover  what  is 
known  as  the  Annexed  District,  and  then  pro- 
ceeding to  lay  out  parks,  the  City  has  wisely 


$8 


adopted  a  very  extensive  plan  for  new  parks, 
bought  the  land  and  begun  to  improve  it,  thus 
anticipating  the  needs  of  an  ever-increasing 
population  north  of  the  Harlem.  This  was 
done  under  an  act  of  the  Legislature  of 
April  19,  1883,  which  provided  for  the  ap- 
pointment of  Commissioners  to  select  and 
locate  lands  for  public  parks  in  the  Twenty- 
third  and  Twenty-fourth  wards  and  in  their 
vicinity.  Under  this  act  Mayor  Edson  ap- 
pointed Luther  R.  Marsh,  Louis  Fitzgerald, 
Waldo  Hutchins,  Charles  L.  Tiffany,  William 
W.  Niles,  George  W.  McLean  and  Thomas  J. 
Crombie,  and,  following  their  report  to  the 
Legislature,  that  body  passed  a  law  on  June 
14,  1884,  laying  out  and  providing  for  the 
acquisition  of  the  following  parks: 


Van  Cortlandt,  which  contains.  1,132.35  acres. 

Bronx,  which  contains   661.60  " 

Pelham  Bay,  which  contains..  .1,756  " 

Crotona,  which  contains   141.65  " 

Claremont,  which  contains  . . .     38.05  " 

St.  Mary's,  which  contains   28.70  " 

Bronx  and  Pelham  Parkway, 

which  contains   95  " 

Mosholu  Parkway,  which  con- 
tains  80  " 

Crotona  Parkway,  which  con- 
tains   12  " 


a  total  of  3,945-35  acres, 

that  is,  an  area  nearly  five  times  that  of  Cen- 


59 


tral  Park.  At  that  time  the  total  area  of  the 
city  parks  was  only  1,094  acres — less  than 
Van  Cortlandt  Park  alone. 

The  report  of  the  Commission  appointed 
to  acquire  the  lands  was  confirmed  by  the 
courts  in  the  year  1889.  The  total  cost  to 
the  City  of  acquiring-  the  land  was  $9,969,- 
603.04.  These  parks  reach  from  the  Sound 
nearly  to  the  Hudson,  and  cover  a  vast  area 
of  beautiful  country,  where  there  are  hills 
and  valleys,  meadows  and  woods,  streams 
and  lakes,  far  surpassing  in  beauty  Central 
Park. 

The  development  of  these  new  parks 
will  be  gradual  with  the  growth  of  the  city, 
and  consistent  with  economical  expenditure. 
For,  of  course,  it  was  not  intended  that  these 
vast  park  lands  should  be  immediately  com- 
pleted. Their  area  is  so  great  that  the  ex- 
pense would  be  prohibitory.  Comparatively 
little  has  been  done  as  yet  toward  the 
permanent  improvement  of  these  parks, 
with  the  exception  of  the  parade  ground  in 
Van  Cortlandt  Park,  where  a 

CanTttdt  traCt  °f  120  aCr6S  haS  beeU  im" 
Bronx  Parks  Prove^  an^  set  apart  for  the  use 
of  the  National  Guard.  Some 
work  has  also  been  done  in  connection  with 
the  macadamizing  of  a  part  of  the  roads  in 
Van  Cortlandt  and  Pelham  Bay  Parks.  A 
new  roadway  is  now  being  constructed  on 
the  line  of  the  Bronx  and  Pelham  Parkway, 


4o 


and  this,  and  other  similar  work,  is  being 
carried  on  by  the  Department  with  an  ex- 
penditure of  several  hundred  thousands  of 
dollars  annually.  Each  year's  work  may  not 
show  for  itself,  but  the  result  will,  in  a  few 
years,  be  very  apparent. 

The  natural  beauties  and  peculiar  fitness 
for  a  public  park  of  the  lands  lying  along 
both  banks  of  the  Bronx  River  led  to  the 
selection  of  this  valley  by  the  Park  Commis- 
sion for  what  is  now  Bronx  Park.  As  that 
Commission  said  in  its  report  to  the  Legis- 
lature: "That  such  a  spot  should  exist  in 
its  original  state,  in  its  native  wildness,  so 
near  the  settled  portion  of  the  great  city, 
and  yet  be  almost  so  wholly  unknown  and 
unsuspected,  will  awaken  surprise."  The 
river  runs  through  the  park  from  end  to 
end,  over  rocks  and  old  mill  dams,  and 
here  and  there  forming  small  ponds. 
Along  its  banks  is  a  rich  growth  of  trees 
and  shrubs,  as  wild  in  appearance  in 
places  as  if  the  hand  of  man  had  never 
touched  them.  Among  them  is  a  fine  tree 
of  over  150  feet  in  height,  which  has  long 
been  known  as  De  Lancey's  pine,  having 
received  its  name,  it  is  said,  from  the  De 
Lancey  family,  who  formerly  owned  the 
land.  There  is  also  a  huge  boulder,  which 
is  evidently  a  glacial  deposit,  weighing 
probably  more  than  100  tons,  yet  so  bal- 
anced on   the  rock  upon  which   it  was 


41 


originally  deposited  ages  ago,  that  it  can 
easily  be  made  to  swing  on  its  rocky  base. 
The  reservation  set  apart  for  the  use  of  the 
New  York  Botanical  Garden  and  Arboretum 
in  Bronx  Park  covers  an  area  of  250  acres 
of  land.  The  Park  Board  has  also  approved 
of  the  use  of  a  portion  of  the  same  park 
for  the  purposes  of  the  New  York  Zoologi- 
cal Society — a  decided  improvement  on 
the  present  Zoological  Garden  in  Central 
Park. 

St.  Mary's  Park,  Claremont  Park  and 
Crotona  Park,  all  south  and  west  of  Bronx 
Park,  do  not  call  for  any  particular  mention. 
There  is,  however,  a  feature  of  the  new  park 
system  which  ought  not  to  be  overlooked, 
and  that  is  the  Parkways, — broad  avenues 

connecting  Bronx  Parks  with 
Parkways.   Van    Cortlandt,    Pelham  and 

Crotona  Parks.  They  are  sev- 
eral hundred  feet  wide,  and  are  so  laid  out 
that  one  can  pass  from  one  park  to  another, 
without  going  through  city  streets — a  plan 
which  ought  to  have  been  adopted  to  con- 
nect Central  Park  with  Morningside  and 
Riverside.  These  parkways  are  Mosholu 
Parkway,  connecting  Van  Cortlandt  with 
Bronx  Park ;  Crotona  Parkway,  connect- 
ing Crotona  with  Bronx  Park,  and  the 
Bronx  and  Pelham  Parkway,  which  connects 
Bronx  Park  with  Pelham  Bay  Park  on  the 
Sound. 


43 


Pelham  Bay  Park  has  one  feature  which 


Neck.  The  laying  out  of  this  park  was  in 
part  urged  in  order  that  the  people  might 
have  access  to  the  water  by  way  of  a  park. 
No  one  who  has  seen  the  Sound  on  a  sum- 
mer afternoon  can  doubt  the  wisdom  of  the 
Commission  which  laid  out  this  park  so  that 
it  should  reach  the  water.  Objection  was 
made  that  it  was  outside,  of  the  city,  and  it 
is  true  that  the  park  was  originally  in  West- 
chester County.  But  no  equally  well-situ- 
ated land  was  to  be  had  nearer  to  the  city, 
and  when  the  so-called  Annexed  District 
became  part  of  New  York,  this  park  was 
brought  within  the  city  limits,  its  northerly 
boundary  being  the  same  as  the  northerly 
boundary  line  of  the  city  at  this  point. 

This  Park,  too,  is  of  historical  interest. 
Here  occurred  on  October  18,  1778,  a  fight 
between  the  British  and  the  Americans, 
when  General  Howe  made  an  effort  to  get 
in  the  rear  of  Washington's  army,  and  cut  it 
off  from  its  base  of  supplies  in  Connecticut, 
just  before  the  battle  of  White  Plains. 
There,  too,  the  Hutchinson  River  recalls  the 
romance  of  Anne  Hutchinson 

The  incidents  connected  with  the  land 
where  these  parks  are  situated,  and  relating 
to  our  early  history,  have  often  been  told  in 


Pelham  Bay 
Park. 


no  other  park  possesses,  and 
that  is  its  water  front  on  the 
Sound,  just  back  of  Throggs 


43 


the  New  York  Historical  Society  in  a  man- 
ner far  more  complete  and  more  interesting 
than  the  writer  can  possibly  relate  them. 
There  is  the  Old  Manor  House  in  Van  Cort- 
landt  Park,  a  residence  of  the  Van  Cortlandt 
family,  erected  in  the  middle  of  the  XVIII 
century  (1748),  where  General  Washington 
and  Rochambeau  dined  just  prior  to  the  York- 
town  campaign.  When  Washington  decided 
in  July  of  1781  to  join  Lafayette  at  Yorktown, 
he  lighted  his  camp  fires  on  the  summit  of 
Vault  Hill  to  deceive  the  enemy  in  regard  to 
his  movements.  The  vault,  which  gives  its 
name  to  this  spot,  was  the  burial  place  of 
the  Van  Cortlandt  family,  and  still  exists. 
The  country  near  this  and  the  Mosholu  Val- 
ley was  the  scene  of  many  bloody  fights 
between  the  Stockbridge  Indians  and  the 
English.  The  spot,  known  as  Indian  Field, 
received  its  name  from  a  grave,  which  is  said 
to  have  held  the  remains  of  forty  Indians. 
There  are  still  a  few  smaller  parks  to  be 


and  constructed,  like  Central  Park,  solely  for 
the  purpose  of  creating  open  spaces  for  the 
benefit  of  the  public. 

Manhattan  Park,  which  surrounds  the 
Natural  History  Museum,  does  not  call  for 
any  especial  comment.  With  the  completion 
of  the  Museum,  there  will  be  hardly  any  of 


Smaller  Parks 
and  Squares. 


mentioned,  several  of  which 
have  been  recently  laid  out, 
and  all  of  which  were  designed 


44 


the  open  space  left,  and,  as  a  park,  it  will 
practically  disappear. 

Bryant  Park,  between  40th  and  42d  streets, 
known  to  most  people  because  of  its  prox- 
imity to  the  old  reservoir,  is  as  beautiful  a 
spot  as  can  be  found  in  the  city.  It  is  here 
that  the  new  Public  Library  is  to  be  erected. 

Mount  Morris  Park,  which  lies  across  Fifth 
avenue  at  124th  street,  is  well  worth  more 
than  a  mere  passing  notice.  It  is  a  large 
space  in  the  centre  of  which  is  a  bold,  rocky 
eminence  formerly  called  Snake  Hill,  or,  in 
Dutch,  Slange  Berg.  After  having  remained 
an  abandoned  space  for  many  years,  the 
records  show  that  in  1869  work  upon  it  was 
being  actively  pushed,  and  it  was  soon  com- 
pleted as  a  park.  The  fact  that  it  contains 
a  hill,  which  rises  abruptly  above  the  sur- 
rounding streets,  adds  very  much  to  its 
beauty. 

East  River  Park,  which  lies  at  the  foot  of 
88th  street  and  the  East  River,  is  one  of  the 
most  recent  of  the  public  squares  or  parks 
which  has  been  opened.  It  is  near,  or  covers 
a  part  of  the  old  country  places  of  a  number 
of  well-known  New  York  families,  like  the 
Gracies,  Schermerhorns,  Crugers,  Waldrons 
and  Rhinelanders.  The  house  which  stands 
at  the  point  overlooking  the  water  was  for- 
merly the  residence  of  Mr.  Gracie,  one  of  the 
ancestors  of  a  well-known  family  of  this  city. 
It  overlooks  the  waters  of  Hell  Gate  with 


45 


Mill  Rock  and  the  upper  end  of  Blackwell's 
Island  but  a  short  distance  away.  Many  of 
the  trees  on  this  country  place,  until  re- 
cently, overhung  the  water.  The  writer  has 
heard  one  of  Mr.  Grade's  descendants  say 
that  in  the  early  part  of  the  century  a  large 
warship,  passing  through  Hell  Gate,  was  car- 
ried by  the  current  so  near  the  bank  that 
her  yards  caught  in  the  trees,  while  the  ship 
floated  in  deep  water. 

For  the  past  few  years  greater  attention 
has  been  directed  toward  the  acquisition  and 
improvement  of  additional  parks  in  the 
lower  portion  of  the  City,  and  more  especi- 
ally in  the  crowded  tenement  house  districts. 
Corlear's  Hook  Park,  in  the  Seventh  Ward, 
is  very  near  the  site  of  a  garden,  where  a 
hundred  years  since  New  Yorkers  were  ac- 
customed to  go  for  refreshments  and  amuse- 
ment. It  and  Mulberry  Bend  Park,  in  the 
Sixth  Ward,  now  take  the  place  of  squalid 
tenements.  Jeanette  Park,  at  Coenties  Slip, 
is  a  small  plot  of  green  along  the  water's 
edge,  and  Old  St.  John's  Cemetery  lands,  in 
the  Ninth  Ward,  have  just  been  acquired  for 
park  purposes,  and  are  about  to  be  improved. 
Other  proceedings  are  now  pending  for  ac- 
quiring title  to  parks  in  the  lower  part  of  the 
City  as  a  result  of  the  efforts  of  the  Tene- 
ment House  Commission  to  procure  breath- 
ing spaces,  where  most  needed,  for  the  relief 
of  the  poorer  classes.     The  acquisition  of 


4* 


Fort  Washington  Park  a  few  months  ago, 
and  the  proposed  Colonial  and  St.  Nicholas 
Parks,  on  the  upper  West  Side  on  Manhat- 
tan Island,  will  still  further  increase  the  park 
area  of  the  City  and  add  much  to  its  beauty. 

To  go  further  into  this  interesting  subject 
would  lead  to  the  presentation  of  a  mass  of 
figures  and  scientific  descriptions,  if  an  at- 
tempt were  made  to  examine  the  laying  out 
of  the  parks  from  the  point  of  view  of  the 
landscape  gardener;  or  the  dry  domain  of 
legal  technicalities,  would  soon  be  reached 
if  the  writer  were  to  go  farther  into  the  ques- 
tion of  how  the  land  was  acquired  for  the 
parks;  or  again,  it  would  call  for  a  review  of 
much  of  the  history  of  the  City,  if  reference 
were  made  at  any  greater  length  to  the  his- 
torical events  connected  with  the  parks  and 
the  land  they  occupy.  To  do  justice  to  the 
beauties  of  the  landscapes  in  the  City  parks, 
calls  for  an  artist  rather  than  a  writer. 

New  York  may  well  be  proud  of  the  work 
done  by  the  Park  Department  during  the 
past  twenty  years,  for  the  care  which  the 
Commissioners  of  that  Department  have  be- 
stowed upon  our  park  system  has  already  to 
a  great  extent  made  up  for  the  former  lack 
of  parks  in  the  lower  half  of  the  city. 


NOTE. 


In  the  libraries  of  the  New  York  Histor- 
ical Society  and  of  the  Association  of  the 
Bar  there  are  many  interesting  maps  show- 
ing-, among  other  things,  the  development  of 
Battery  Park. 

The  former  library  owns  a  unique  set  of 
water-colors,  made  in  1812,  of  the  defenses 
of  upper  New  York,  which  show  quite  clearly 
the  appearance  of  Manhattan  Island  in  the 
neighborhood  of  the  present  1 10th  Street 
from  river  to  river. 

The  Manuals  of  the  Corporation  contain 
not  only  much  information  about  the  parks, 
but  also  many  views  of  Central  Park,  the 
Battery,  etc. 

The  reports  of  the  various  Commissions 
should  be  consulted  for  information  about 
the  original  laying  out  of  the  new  parks. 


! 
i 
» 


4 


